Self-reliance is one of the defining characteristics of what the Buddha taught - being able to learn about yourself, and doing so only using yourself and what you find in your yourself. Help from the outside is of course welcome, whether other people or divine beings, but the primary resource for a Buddhist meditator is him or herself. This article explores this, and particularly how my self-awareness or self-reflection can 'bootstrap' me into a deeper and more perceptive mode of seeing.

I think the English word 'love', in its most expansive and inclusive meaning, is best defined by the four Brahma Viharas as a group, rather than just by the one of them that is best known - metta (goodwill, loving kindness).